you better watch out

You better not cry

Better not pout I'm telling you why

Santa Claus is coming to town

He's making a list And checking it twice;

Gonna find out Who's naughty and nice

Santa Claus is coming to town

It's finally beginning to feel like christmas. I heard this song while waiting to buy something at the grand central station holiday fair, a shopping experience that they open just for the holidays. There are some folks selling things you can't normally buy in new york (imagine that!) so I always visit this fair. Grand Central Station has set up a laser light show that stops traffic, projecting a great display on to the ceiling of the station. I missed it by 5 minutes, drat!

It's cold and rainy, but while I was out I decided to walk over to the new ice skating rink that's opened behind the New York Public Library. It was filled with happy skaters who are much braver than I am when it comes to spending this much time outdoors in the freezing cold!

Even though we're all worried about the economy, there are crowds in the stores and lots of people are shopping. Lord & Taylor had lots of crowds, and who wouldn't want to be there- they have a giant snow globe in the window. How cool is that? Times square was bustling, the tourists love it here and it's not hard to see why- it's non-stop action.

Of course, the main attraction is Rockefeller Center with the best tree in the city. It's wall-to-wall people, so I passed up the opportunity to visit the tree now that it is lit. I came by right before the tree lighting to check out the Swarovski booth, they supply the giant crystal star at the very top of the tree, and sell replicas and other crystals in this booth. As someone who works with their crystals, I was presented with a star ornament, as a token of thanks for all the work we did together this year. I decided to wear it as a necklace because I am so proud that they gave it to me. It's a bit heavy, and will probably end up on my christmas tree as an ornament, just like it's giant cousin is on top of this beautiful tree now all lit up at Rockefeller center.
We'll put up our tree this weekend, and decorate it with our family heirloom ornaments and a couple of new ones. There will certainly be room on the tree for my swarovski star, it can take the place of the NY Mets christmas ball that is being demoted to the back this year. Then, next week, after we've shipped most of our customers holiday orders I can go and do a bit of shopping myself. ciao !